Much of the almost $2.5 million of expenses run up by the developer of the planned Hercules New Town Center in the first nine months of 2010 went to an array of consultants, with the company president the single largest biller.

Tom Weigel, president of Newport Beach-based The Red Barn Co., submitted invoices totaling almost $287,000 to the Hercules Finance Department in the nine-month period, including his $20,000-a-month consulting fee, with the rest going to travel and other expenses.

New Town Center is supposed to be built in three stages: Market Town, at Sycamore and San Pablo avenues, with offices, stores and 250 to 300 homes around a town square; Cinema Town, just east of Interstate 80, with a 12-screen cinema, stores, more than 600 homes and about 2,500 mostly covered parking spaces; and Transit Town, with about 450 homes.

To date, all that has been built is a temporary food court, Market Hall, at the site of the future Market Town.

Several other Red Barn team members also rang up monthly five-figure tabs that were reimbursed from a now virtually depleted $12 million primary project fund established by the Hercules Redevelopment Agency. Team members included:

Red Barn’s Charlotte, N.C.-based law firm, the TownField Group, received a $10,000-a-month retainer, expenses and, in April, a $50,000 “bonus per contract.” The firm had also received a bonus in the same amount in December 2009.

Irvine-based ACEC Consulting Inc. billed about $276,000 in the period for construction management, project administration and other consulting; ACEC principal Jason Jazayeri charged $200 an hour for consulting; he also applied a 15 percent markup to travel-related expenses, but not to purchases of supplies and other non-travel expenses. Jazayeri also is a principal in Red Barn, according to the company’s website.

Long Beach-based consultant Linda Peak charged $75 an hour for consulting, much of it related to communications, negotiations with retailers and leasing, and rang up about $145,000 in the nine-month period, including supplies and travel.

San Diego-based Remen Design and Development variously charged $45 and $65 an hour for consulting, and ran up about $122,000 in bills in the period. Remen principal A.J. Remen is a member of the Red Barn team.

Jazayeri, Peak and Remen did not respond to e”‘mails.

According to the rules of the primary project fund, Hercules New Town Center LLC submitted bills to the economic development director or his designee at least once a month for review.

Weigel said last week that the bills were reviewed without hitches by former Economic Development Director Steve Lawton and then-Finance Director and now Assistant Finance Director Gloria Leon. That all changed, he said, when a new team took over in October, led by former interim City Manager Charlie Long, who declined to pay further Red Barn invoices. Weigel referred further questions to Red Barn’s attorney, Todd Olson.

Olson said Red Barn will not comment on any line items until it completes an internal audit.